Electric railway



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. y

D. N..osY-oR. n ELEGTRIG RAILWAY.

ADREW ELHMIAM. PHOTO-UNO WASH INGTDN. DL,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID OSYOR, OF NElVARK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH A. JEFFREY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,303, dated April 14, 1896.

Application iiled January 23, 1889. Serial No. 297,316. (No inodel.)

To @ZZ whom, t may con/cern:

Beit known that I, DAVID N. OSYOR, acitizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Licking, in the State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Railways, of which the following is specification.

Figure 1 shows in cross-section a tunnel or mine entry having a track with a car thereon provided with a motor, electrical attachments, &c. Fig. 2 is a side view of the devices in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a side view of a trolley detached. Fig. +L is `a vertical section of the conductors and showing the trolley. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a detachable conductor. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of a tunnel or mine entry and of a branch communicating therewith. Fig. 7 shows in plan parts of a switch to be electrically actuated. Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate the manner of supporting and manipulating the trolleys at points where branch lines and tracks join or intersect.

I have shown myimprovements as being applied to an electric railroad situated in a tunnel or mine entry and the branches thereof but it will be understood that many of the parts of the present invention can be applied in connection with electric railroads in other places.

In the drawings, A represents a car on an ordinary track B B and having thereon an electric motor C of any suitable kind. One part of the present invention relates to a construction and arrangement of conductors which can be so applied as to occupy but little room, which shall be efficiently insulated in an economic way, and from which current can be taken readily under all ordinary circumstances.

An apparatus of the sortherein is especially well adapted for use in places such as above mentionedto Wit, tunnels orl mine entrieswhere there is but little available room and where there is great liability of having ground connections or short circuits either from direct contact with the ground or from moisture, which is constantly present.

I provide a strong, but cheap and eicient, support for the conductors by means of wooden posts E, which I secure in place by tightly fitting or wedgng to the roof or floor of the tunnel vor mine. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) Upon this I arrange the conductors D D. These conductors D D' are preferably made 55 of metal, angular in cross-section. As shown, they are bars having converging external side surfaces and a groove. They can be rapidly and cheaply produced by suitable rolls. The tapering or converging sides provide a means 6o for readily supporting them.

F F indicate hangers or holders for the conductors, they being preferably castings with inclined arms conforming to the external faces of the conductors D D and adapted to be bolted to the posts or insulators E.

G represents an insulating material having a higher insulating efficiency than the wood, such as rubber or the like, it being introduced between the brackets F and the wood to in- 7o sure that any moisture in the wood cannot provide a path for the current.

Vith many electrical railroads it is customary to employ one or both of the track-rails, as at B B, for one part of the metallic circuit for the current, the other part being provided by an insulated conductor; but in fields of Work of the sorts above referred to-tunnels, mines, &c.-I find thatthis system of supplying current is faulty because of the close 8o proximity to the earth and the constant presence of moisture, and if one side of the circuit is grounded there is a corresponding increase in tendency for the current to spring to the ground from the supposedly-insulated side of the circuit. Therefore I insulate both sides-that is, employ two conductors insuy lated from the ground and from each other; and in order to economize space Where these conductors are above the surface of the ground 9o I arrange them one directly above the other7 so that the positive conductor, while giving current to a traveling contact, shall at the saine time act mechanically to assist in holding another insulated contact against the 9 5 negative conductor directly below or above it. Traveling contacts adapted for this purpose are shown at H H and H H. These are preferably metallic wheels flexibly mounted upon arms or holders K K, which arms themselves ioo are here made spring-like, so as to serve both as carriers and as pressure-sprin gs. The contacts H I-I and the metallic parts connected thereto are insulated from those at H' and their corresponding metal parts by means of a non-conducting bar or carrier I of suitable material and dimensions. This carrier also serves to directly receive and properly support portable cond uct-ors J J', preferably flexible and inclosed within a cable or cord L. The conduetorsJ J are respectivelyconnected to the contacts II and II' through the medium ot' the metallic parts at K, which carry said contacts.

I am aware of the fact that it has been proposed to provide a traveling-contact carriage consisting of two lower wheels inflexibly mounted upon a bar orbetween two bars, both of which wheels are to rest upon one conductor, and a `single opposing wheel mounted in sliding blocks restin g` upon coiled springs, so as to move rectilinearly toward and from the line joining the axes of the aforesaid con tacts.

I herein `refer to the contact-wheels as projecting some downward and some upward from the insulating-bar; but it will be understood that I thereby mean that the contactwheels thus project toward the positive and negative conductors, which, as here shown, are substantially one above the other.

The carrier which I provide is superior in many respects. By having two opposin g pairs of wheels I provide aguard against entirely breaking the circuit if at any time either wheel II or II' should be jolted away from the conductor, as is frequently happening in practical use. Again, I provide a better guide for the carriage, so that in turning curves, whetherhorizontal or vertical, there is less liability for the trolleysto escape entirely from the conductors. In the said proposed earlier construction the two metallic conductors were fastened in close proximity to each other, their' shape and arrangement being such that but a small amount of insulation can be placed between them, or else the contact-surfaces must be placed ata considerable distance apart. By employing rails of the character of those at D and fastening them in the-way shown to the insulatingposts they can be widely separated, with a corresponding decrease in the tendency for the current to short-circuit.

Conductors J J extend from` the trolleycarriage to the motor C on the car, and to the terminals thereof they are connected in any suitable way. As'shown in Figs. 2 and 5, an insulating bar or handle L4, containing terminals Z Z', is thrust into a socket L5, containing the motor-terminals;

I am quite aware that use has been made in electric-ear systems of a stationary main conductor, a trolley, a portable conductor extending from the trolley to the car, and a hook or fork on the car to attach the portable conductor; but in the earlier construct-ions at or near the car were unprotected and'exposed, such devices willnot meet the requirements incident to ears such as I herein present-to wit, the low small cars used in minework. Iprovide a protecting-socketon the car for inclosing the motor-terminals and provide the portable-conductor section (which is protected and insulated throughout its length substantially) with an insulated handle having terminals adapted to be inserted into said socket, and the several parts being so arranged that the circuit-metal in the vicinity of the car is inclosed and protected against contact either from the person or other objects.

Contacts II II iit in the groove in conductor D and H' H in opposing groove in conductor D'. The grooves are in some respects a superior guide for the wheels in contradistinction from peripherally-grooved contactwheels fitted to convex` conductors. The sides of the wheels move in contact with the sides of the grooves in addition to the contact attained at the periphery of the wheels, and as the currents employed in the places herein referred to are large the wheels are not destroyed as rapidly, because of reduced contact-surfaces.

Conductors such as those at D D' may be made continuous along the entire path of'car A; but in places such asabove mentioned it is frequently difficult to extend these conductors across certain points-as, for instance, the entrances of branch tunnels or entries. v

I provide for supplying conductors of several mechanically-disconnected sets with current from one source and for taking it from those of any set desired by means of interchangeable trolleys.

Referringto Figs, 6, S, and 9, it will be seen that at the doorway of the branch there are three or more sets of conductors D D', D2 D3, D4 D5, each provided with independent trolleys. The severalcordsor cables are held in elevated supports L' L2 L3 in such proximity that the operator can reach either he may desire. Should he want to run the car from track B B to track B B', he places the cord L of one trolley-carriage in support L' and takes down from the support L3 that belonging to carriage at m2, and can thereupon propel the car along track D'.

The positive conductors D D2 D`L areall electricallyconnected, as by wires,- (see dotted lines, Fig. 6,) and the negatives D' D3 D5 are similarly connected.

In Fig. G I have shown only the connections between the conductors D and D2 and D' and D3; but it will be readily understood that the conductors D and D4 and D' and D5 are in practice connected ina similar manner.

Frequently the entrances to the branch tracks are very low, (only from three to five or six feet high,) and expensive excavations in the roof-rock must be made to carry the conductors across, and event-hen it is necessary to give to the conductors an undesirable bend upward. By the construction and arrangement of parts which I have devised all IOO of the necessary ends can be attained without this.

I have also provided a means for electrically operating the switches to automatically effect the guidance to or from a branch track, as B2.

In Figs. l, 2, 6, and 7, M is a switch-piece, near which is a pit below track B. In the latter are magnet N, a branch circuit including the magnet, and separable contacts for said circuit, the armature of the magnet being connected with and adapted to throw the switch piece or point. N is a magnet, and its armature m2 is carried by lever m', which is connected by link m to switch M.

O is a curved spring, and O2 is a contactpiece against which the spring O is adapted to press. The magnet is connected by wire o to the stationary contact O2, and by wire o2 it is connected with one section of the conductor D. The movable contact O is connected to another section of the conductor D, and 03 is a wire connecting contact O2 to the first-aforesaid section of conductor D.

Car A has a movable Wheel P on a pivoted arm with a lever P. The operator, by lever P', can cause wheel P to force contact O against contact O2, and thereby close the branch circuit and energize the magnet N. The movement of the armature toward the magnet rocks the lever m on its pivot and switch M is closed, so that the car can pass from track B to track B2. The switch can be held open in any suitable way.

I am aware of the fact that use has been heretofore made of a pole or trolley-wire supporter longer than the bar or insulating part at L4, such pole serving to inclose and protect a part of the portable branch circuit which extends from the trolley to the terminals of the car-motor, and also know that the moving wires have been inclosed in hose or iieXible protectors, and therefore, while I do not claim, specifically, a handle, pole, or protector'relatively longer than the oneshown at L4, I do not, on the other hand, (so far as concerns the connecting of a detachable trolley-circuit to a socket or standard like that at L5 on the car,) limit myself to the details shown. Under some circumstances I prefer to have more or less of a length of the protector flexible, so that I can reverse the travel of the car and draw the trolley forward or back without disengaging it from the conductor. Even in such case it will be seen that I provide the trolley with an insulated wire inclosed in the bar L4 and the other parts of the protector and extending from the trolley to the insulated connection contained in a standard or socket L5 on the car-motor.

I am aware, further, of the fact that prior to my invention trolleys have been in use for conveying current to a car-motor from a single overhead wire, (that is, from one side only of the dynamo-circuit,) and although I prefer, in mines where there is much moisture, to employ insulated overhead conductors for both sides of the circuit, yet it will be seen that the earlier plan referred to for putting one side only overhead can be followed when using a detachable protected trolley-conductor carried and applied to a socketed stand in substantially the same way that I have indicated. 1

At D12 a protector or hood is shown which is so arranged above the conductors D and D as to throw the water which may fall from the roof or other place outward and prevent it from trickling from one conductor to the other.

l. The combination of the insulating-posts E, the conductors D D situated one above the other, formed with grooves opposing each other, the supplemental insulators G, and the bracket-clips F engaging with the outer faces of the rail, substantially as set forth.

2. In an electric-railroad system, a main track, a branch track having a movable switch, an electromagnet having an armature connected to said switch, a curved contactspring, a contact-point electrically connected with said magnet, and a pressure wheel mounted on a car and adapted to press said spring against said contact-point, whereby said magnet is energized, substantially as set forth.

3. In an electric-railroad system, a main track, a branch track having 'a movable switch, an electromagnet having an armature connected to said switch, a curved spring, a contact-point below said spring, and a pressure device on a car, all designed to operate, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination with the conductorrail having converging or tapering sides, of the insulating support having correspondingly-'shaped sides, the gripping device having an inclined arm to engage said support, and a hood extending from planes above said rail to planes below it substantially as set forth.

5. In an electric-railroad system, several disjointed sets of conductors for trolley-carriages, as at D D', D2D3, D4 D5, adapted to be similarly charged with electricity, one or more trolley carriages permanently mounted on the conductors of each of said sets, each of said carriages having portable conductors attached thereto, and means for supporting the said portable conductors in proximity to each other when out of use.

6. In an electric-railroad system, a main track, a branch track having a movable switch, an electromagnet N, a pivotally-supported armature m2 connected by a link to said switch, the electric circuit including the said magnet, the separable contacts, the carriage having a pressure-wheel and a lever for moving said wheel into and out of engagement with the said contact, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with the wheeled car, the electric motor thereon having its circuit- I'OO IIO

terminals arranged Within an inclosing and protecting socket or chamber, and the supply main or conductor, of the` trolley adapted to travel in contact with the supply-main, and the portable conductor, insulated throughout its length, connected to the trolley, and having at the end an insulated handle with terminals adapted to fit Within and be inclosed by the said socket which contains the motorterminals, whereby a completely insulated and protected connection is provided between the motor-circuit and the trolley, substantially as set forth.

S. The combination with the Wheeled car, the electric motor thereon having a socket inclosing the insulated motor-terminals, and a stationary supply-conductor, of the portable conductor interposed between the stationary conductor and the motor, said portable conductor having at one end a contact-trolley for the supply-conductor and at the other end an insulated handle with terminals adapted to be inserted endWise into and supported Within the aforesaid socket, substantially as set forth.

9.: In an electrically-operated railway-switch mechanism the combination With a main track, abranch track and a movable switchsection connecting` the main and branch tracks, of a source of electrical supply, an electricV conductor running along said track a magnet having its armature connected with themovable switch-section, an electric circuit comprising said magnet, a stationary contact, a movable contact, a branch circuit including said contacts, magnet and conductor, a movable circuit-closing device mounted on the car and adapted to be moved, by an operator on the car, outward from the bod)T of the car While it is in motion to force the movable contact against the stationary contact, substaniially as set forth.

10. In an electrically-operated switch mechanism, the combination With a main track, the branch track, and the movable switch-section between the main and branch tracks, of a magnet having its armature connected with the movable switchsection, an electric circuit includingthe magnet, a stationary contact and a movable contact, and a vertically-movable circuit-closing device mounted on the car and adapted to be moved downward at will while the car is in motion to force the movable contact toward the stationary contact,as set forth.

ll. A trolley having an insulated Wire inclosed in a bar L4 or the part `which draws the trolley and extending from the trolley-Wheel to insulated connections contained in its standard L5 on the motor, substantially as set forth. i

l2. A trolley mechanism detachable at its base and provided with contacts in a standard at the point of separation at the said base, substantially as set forth.

13. A trolley mechanism having an insulatedwire from the trolley-Wheel extending through the arm L4, or a part which draws the trolley, to the connections Within the standard L5 all inclosed and insulated, substantially as set forth.

DAVID N. OSYOR. Vitnesses:

VVILLARD R. KIMBALL, O. C. ELDER. 

